Welcome to our forum, and thank you for sharing this interesting and poignant example honoring this officer, and I hope we can find some information which might provide better identifying background.
What I can say is that regionally or tribally classifying these weapons attributed to the Montagnard groups is challenging. This term is of course broadly applied to the tribes of Viet Nam highlands and neighboring areas.
The areas in Phuoc Long province had been severely devastated and tribes relocated for years since early 1960s and the tribes of these regions numbered around a dozen or more. Since the document is of course vague in noting more on the chieftain, it is hard to say more. However, I would note that the diffusion and cross influences in these areas would be diverse especially given the volatile circumstances of these times.
I once acquired a dha which was a weapon brought back from Viet Nam in the late 1960s, and while its handle was quite plain, the blade had a very similar radius in its profile. It is was Montagnard, and from a Hmong tribe situated more in Laotian border areas. I had it examined by Hmong elders through a University professor researching these tribal groups, who seeing markings on the blade confirmed it was 'one of thiers'. I also had that confirmed by a Viet Nam officer who had served with these groups in the early 1960s.
While the peaked dome pommel is unusual, as far as I can recall, this one is very similar to the one I had. I may be able to find more notes, but in the meantime I hope others will respond. We have some very knowledgeable guys here on dhas, so hope they will come in.
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